Description: This session will discuss the implications of a proposed federal catastrophic long-term care program, the WISH Act. The session will focus on the benefit to consumers, the financial soundness of the proposed program and the regulatory steps necessary to achieve the desired public/private insurance program goals. The session may also consider state based reform proposals.

Description: Presented at the Living to 100 Symposium, January 2011. The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports 'CLASS' Act’s designers and promoters envision the program as a noble plan to relieve the financial strain on Medicaid long-term care and enable disabled and elderly Americans to purchase more home care and suffer less nursing home institutionalization. This paper explains why CLASS, like private long-term care insurance, is doomed to failure unless and until the crowd-out effect of easy access to Medicaid LTC benefits is addressed.

Description: Coverage of Medicaid home and community-based services under the 1915(i) state plan option: Attractive features and important considerations

Description: A Chief Actuary’s responsibilities in managing an LTC block require a strong understanding of the past and the ability to use that and emerging trends and challenges to prognosticate the future. During this session a panel of Chief Actuaries will share their thoughts about the current and future states of the LTC industry and how they are tackling their top challenges, such as COVID, LDTI implementation, regulatory changes, and their work force.

Description: Congress authorized the creation of the RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council in 2018. The Council, comprised of family caregivers and experts from a wide variety of stakeholder organizations in both the private and public sector, have been engaged in an in-depth research effort over the last two years to develop recommendations and an implementation plan to address our national caregiving crisis. This article describes their work and the newly released Report to Congress.

Description: As the topic of affordable long-term care (LTC) insurance comes into focus in political conversations, we often find ourselves thinking, “What is going to happen to the private LTC insurance industry going forward?” The need for LTC in the United States is not going away, especially as the population continues to age. With this in mind, this article explores three possible future paths for LTC insurance funding and the associated implications for the private LTC industry.

Description: Presented at the Living to 100 Symposium, January 2011. Long-term care LTC insurance is frequently not covered by national social insurance programs. When costs are expressed as a percentage of gross domestic product, the future burden of financing LTC would not lead to unbearable tax levels and is not particularly large in comparison to the projected costs for pensions and health care. After identifying the breadth of definitions of LTC needs, it is argued that LTC is an insurable risk. The paper concludes that LTC social insurance is affordable in developed countries.

Description: Discussion of the implications of the newly unveiled health care reform proposal by Senator Baucus. Key issues include abandonment of the CLASS Act, inclusion of LTC in cafeteria plans, funding and tax concerns, individual mandate, privacy concerns, play-or-pay employer mandate, impact on Medicare and Medicaid, and gridlock in the legislative finalization process.

Description: This article summarizes the presentations by the Society of Actuaries and the Academy of Actuaries at the January 2015 National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) Roundtables in Washington DC. SOA presented on the 2014 SOA monograph series "The Link between Retirement Security and Long-Term Care."